Jury convicts man in shooting, other man still loose

CLEVELAND -- A Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court Jury has convicted Sheldon Seals on 13 criminal counts for his role in a predawn attack on a West Side Cleveland home.

Jurors found Seals, 26, of Cleveland, guilty on four counts of Improperly discharging into habitation, four counts of felonious assault, one count of having weapons under disability, one count of failure to comply, one count of failure to comply, one count of improperly handling a firearm in a motor vehicle and one count of resisting arrest.

Evidence at trial showed that on Sept. 29, 2012, a car pulled up in front of a house in the 3300 block of West 59th Place at approximately 4 a.m. Shots were fired into the house where four people were sleeping.

Cleveland Police officers on patrol in the neighborhood hurried to the sound of the gunfire and gave chase to the car driven by Seals. During the roughly five-minute pursuit, a passenger jumped out of the car with an object that officers later found and identified as an AK-47 rifle. A magazine and ammunition matching that weapon were found inside the car.

Seals eventually abandoned the car and was captured after a brief chase by police.

His passenger, identified as Cory Middleton, 26, of Cleveland, also was indicted in the case but remains at large. Anyone with information about Middleton should contact Second District detectives at 216.623.2719.